Blade magazine



March 2, 1943. Nv TESTl BLADE MAGAZINE Filed May 4, 1940 Patented Mar.2, 1943 2,312,502 BLADE MAGAZINE Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignerto Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a carporation ofDelaware Application May 4, 1940, Serial N0. 333,346

7 Claims.

This invention relates to magazines for blades, such as safety razorblades. It consists in a magazine of new and improved construction,inexpensive to manufacture and convenient to fill with a supply of sharpedged blades, effective to guard and protect the blade edges andaccurate in controlling the discharge of one blade at a time for use ina safety razor or for any other purpose.

Safety razor blades of thin sheet steel, often as thin as .004" andmanufactured with an exceedingly ne sharp shaving edge, are difficult topack and distribute without dulling and are dangerous to handle inpresenting new blades to a safety razor or removing used blades forcleaning or replacement I have discovered a construction of magazinewhich is entirely satisfactory in the respects noted and which is alsoproof against the annoyance of jamming of blades in the dischargeopening. This has been a serious defect in magazines heretoforeavailable for it frequently happens that two blades at a time are forcedinto the discharge opening and jammed so that it is impossible to ejecta single blade and serious danger of cutting is likely when the operatorattempts forcibly to clear the magazine.

With these objects in view an important feature of my invention consistsin a magazine comprising an elongated enclosure having a slot in its topWall and a discharge opening in one end and provided with a pinupstanding in the bottom'of the magazine beneath the slot and serving tolocate the-blade stack and also to gauge the width or depth of thedischarge opening. Blades of the stack may be made each with an endnotch adapted to engage the pin and thus the blades are registered insuperposed relation. The upper end of the pin, moreover, may beaccurately terminated below the plane of the inner face of the top ofthe magazine by exactly the thickness of a single blade. The accuratedetermination of the gauging end of the pin is facilitated since it isin an accessible position beneath the slot in the top of the magazine.Accordingly, it may be conveniently reached by the inserting tools inthe assembling operation and it may be reached by a grinding l wheelafter insertion so that its end face may be shaped and positioned withany desired degree of nicety. As a result of this construction it isimpossible to introduce a second blade into the discharge opening untilthe first blade has been wholly ejected. Even if the feeding mechanismis operated accidentally to engage the second blade in the stack thatblade is positively held by the pin against movement until the precedingblade has been fully discharged and removed from the space between thegauging end of the pin and the top of the magazine. Only then can thesecond blade en'gage the top of the magazine and clear the end of thegauge pm.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig 1 is a plan view of the magazine on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view infront elevation:

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View in longitudinal section on still largerscale;

Fig. 4 is a view in cross-section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation showing the magazine operatively connectedto a safety razor.

The magazine herein shown may be bent to shape from a blank of thinsheet metal or it may be moulded from any suitable thermo-plasticmaterial. It vcomprises an elongated shell I0 of rectangular outlineforming an enclosure of which the top is formed `by longitudinallyinturned flanges II and I2 separated by a Wide centrally located slotwhich extends from one end to the other of the shell. The i'ianges I Iand I2 form a guideway for a feed slide I5 which is provided withdownwardly extending undercut walls tting the flanges II and I2. Theflanges are provided at their inner corners at both ends of the magazinewith stops I3 and I4 in the shape of upturned ears which limit the pathof movement of the feed slide I5.

Set in the bottom of the magazine centrally land in line with the'longitudinal axis of the slot or opening between the flanges II and I2is a pair of upstanding pins I6 and I'I. The pin or post I6 is locatednear the forward end of the magazine and terminates at its upper endbelow the plane of the inner face of the flanges II and I2 by an amountequal exactly to the thickness of one of the blades for which themagazine is designed. The end of the pin, therefore, in cooperation withthe flanges II and I2 gauges the depth of the discharge opening intheleft-hand end of the magazine. The pin I'l at the rear end of themagazine projects substantially above Q the plane of the inner faceofthe flanges II and I2 and into the space which is bridged by the sidesof the feed slide I5. The pin Il, therefore, effectively closes the rearend of the magazine. Within the magazine Iis located a curved leafspring I8 which is arranged to bear upon the lowermost blade of thestack adjacent toits opposite ends and yieldingly to lift the wholestack, maintaining the uppermost blade in Vcontact with the inner faceof the flanges Il and I2. The magazine is provided externally at itsleft-hand end with a tapering finger I9. This isiadapted and shaped tobe inserted in the safety razor for the purpose of temporarilyseparating the blade-clamping members and of registering the magazine inthe proper position for presenta'- tion of a blade to the blade seat.The side walls of the feed slide form in effect a recess affordingclearance in the slide for passing over the ends of the pins I6 and I1and also providing a bladepushing portion below each flange.

As shown in Fig. 5 the razor comprises a head 20 having a guard 2| and aco-operating clamping plate 22. The blade isinserted endwise betweenthese two members while they are temporarily sprung apart by theinsertion of the' nger I9. At the conclusion of the blade-deliveringstep the magazinemay be withdrawn and the clamping members allowed toengage and hold the delivered blade in shaving position.

The blades 23 herein shown are single-edged blades having a centrallydisposed semi-circular recess in each end by which they may beregistered vertically in a stack. As already stated the invention is notlimited to blades of this particular design for it would be within thescope of the invention to modify the shape and dimensions of themagazine to accommodate blades of any other desired size or style.

The magazine is initially filled with ten or more blades by themanufacturer and these may be inserted one by .one or inserted 'as astack prior to the insertion of the pin I1.' Within the magazine theblades 23 are positively retained in predetermined longitudinal Iandtransverse position by the engagement of the pinsY I6 and I1 in the endrecesses of the blades. At the same time the blades are free to moveupwardly on the pins in response to'upward pressure of the spring I8. Asalready intimated the loaded magazine may be wrapped and used as acontainer for distributing and dispensing blades t the user.

It will be noted that the flanges II and I2 and the side walls of themagazine extend to the right beyond the pin I'I sufficiently to supportthe feed slide I5 in a position beyond the end of the stack, this beingthe initial position of the feed slide. If it is desired to present ablade to the safety razor ,of Fig. 5 the magazine is presented with thefinger I9 inserted in the manner already explained and then the feedslide is advanced from right to left. In this movement its flanges Vmostblade has been completed, although the from lifting by the portion ofthe uppermost blade `still remaining in the magazine above the `end ofthe pin. No jamming of blades, therefore.

occurs in the discharge opening, but by the A obstruction of the feedslide the attention of the user is drawn to the fact that the previousblade has not been fully ejected. The magazine may be then clearedeither by drawing the uppermost blade out of the discharge opening byhand or by forcibly depressing the stack against the action of thespring I8 until the feed slide is again enabled to move forwardly abovethe second blade in the stack. When this occurs the feed slide againreaches the end of the unejected blade whereupon the ejecting operationmay be completed in the regular manner. Ordinarily when a fresh blade isadvanced to the blade seat of the razor the used blade is pushed out ofthe razor ahead of the fresh blade.

It will be noted that while the blades are held in the stack in themagazine by the pins I6 and I l their sharp edges are positivelyretained out of contact with any part of the magazine enclosure althoughthey are always free to move up or down on the pins I6 and I1 and topass one by one above the end of the pin I6.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described the best way now knownto me of putting 'it into practice, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A magazine containing a stack of end notched safety razor blades,comprising an enclosure having spaced pins in its bottomvbetween whichthe stack is registered and held by `the end notches of the blades, theenclosure having spaced flanges in its upper wall which expose the endsof said pins, one pin reaching the plane of said flanges and the otherpin terminating below said plane sufficiently to provide a dischargeopening of the width of a single blade, and a feed slide movable on theflanges of the upper wall of the enclosure and bridging the ends of saidpins.

2. A blade magazine comprising an elongated rectangular enclosure havinga flanged top, a feed slide guided for limited longitudinal movementtherein and having a blade-pushing portion projecting into theenclosure, and pins of unequal length set upright in the bottom of theenclosure and exposed at their upper ends between said flanges, one ofsaid pins terminating below the plane of the inner face of said flangesby a distance equal to the thickness of a single blade, and the otherbeing longer and closing the magazine at its inner end.

3.`A magazine for` safety razor blades, comprising a sheet metalenclosure open at both ends and having its'l top formed by opposedparallel flanges separated by a central opening, centrally disposed pinsupstanding in the bottom of the enclosure and serving to locate a stackof end notched blades with their sharp edges held positively out ofcontact with the walls of the enclosure, one of the pins closing one endof the enclosure and the other pin terminating below the flanges by thethickness of a single blade thus providing a, discharge opening of thatdepth, and a feed slide movably mounted to slide on said flanges andshaped to bridge the ends of both pins in its movement and to engage ablade on both sides of the pin.

4. A magazine for safety razor blades, including in its structure anelongated enclosure having a top dened by spaced ilanges extendinginwardly from the sides of the enclosure so as to form a longitudinallyextending slot, an upstanding pin at one end terminating below saidflanges and defining therewith a discharge opening of substantially thewidth of a single blade, and a feed slide interitting at its edges withsaid spaced flanges and having a blade-engaging portion movable insidethe enclosure and recessed in its nner face to aord clearance forpassing over the end of the pin While making feeding engagement with ablade in the magazine.

5. A magazine for safety razor blades, including in its structure anelongated enclosure having a top defined by spaced flanges extendinginwardly from the sides of the enclosure and separated by a longitudinalslot, upright pins set in the bottom of the enclosure, one of said pinsterminating below the inner face of the anges and the other above saidface, and a feed slide undercut at its edges to t said flanges and toextend partially within the enclosure, the slide being recessed tobridge the upper ends of said pins and to provide blade-pushing portionsbelow each ilange.

6. A magazine of the character defined in claim 5 in which the flangesextend outwardly for a distance suilicient to support the feed slideoutside said longer pin.

7. A magazine of the character defined in claim r5 which has anelongated finger projecting from one end in a direction parallel to thepath of the feed slide and of a blade ejected by the movement thereof.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

